Blondie are back with the new album ‘High Noon’, which features the final recordings from Clem Burke and contributions from Johnny Marr, Glen Matlock and more. Check out the driving lead single ‘Spectral Eyes’ below.
Set for release on February 26 via BMG, the new record marks the 12th studio album from Debbie Harry and co., and the NYC rock icons’ first collection of new material in nine years. Visit here to pre-order.
Set to combine their signature punk-rock sound with new inflections of dance music and Latin rhythms, the record features the final recordings of co-founder and drummer Clem Burke, who died last year following a battle with cancer.
Across the 13 songs on ‘High Noon’, Harry and Chris Stein are joined by special guests including Johnny Marr, Glen Matlock, Zach Condon of Beirut, and Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.
Today (Thursday October 15), the first taster of the record is out via the electrifying new single ‘Spectral Eyes’, which was written by Marr and also features him on guitar. Rife with energetic vocal melodies, shimmering guitar riffs and a hypnotic chorus, the track captures the signature sound that first put Blondie on the map. Check it out below.
Sessions for ‘High Noon’ started back in 2022, with the original trio rejoining forces with producer John Congleton [St. Vincent, The War On Drugs] in New York for the first time since they made their 2017 album ‘Pollinator’.
“This album is classic Blondie – an amalgamation of all our different influences and eras into something new,” said Harry. “This music feels grounded in the present, shaped by who we are and how we’re living now.”
Stein added: “It’s been a long, strange ride, and somehow here we are with another Blondie album. I’m not sure what the fuck I’m supposed to say at this point, except that we’re incredibly grateful for all your support over the years.”
Much of the work was done in the New York Studio studio before the death of Clem Burke, and the visual world of ‘High Noon’ was made in collaboration with artist and director Rob Roth, who has worked with Blondie since their 1999 album ‘No Exit’.
“I wanted to create something unexpected, but something that still feels quintessentially Blondie,” the director shared. “‘High Noon’ exists in its own world – somewhere between the past, present and future. There are references to different eras and the band’s history, all mixed together to create something that feels both familiar and new.”
Check out the tracklist below, which features ‘Sleepwalking’ written by Glen Matlock, and a revisited version of ‘Little Metal Drummer’ which was originally recorded by Blondie co-founding keyboardist Jimmy Destri for his debut solo album ‘Heart On A Wall’.
The ‘High Noon’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Spectral Eyes’
2. ‘Heartbreak Kid’
3. ‘Come Back Home’
4. ‘Tambo Tambo’
5. ‘Man Who Had No Face’
6. ‘The End’
7. ‘Little Metal Drummer’
8. ‘Sleepwalking’
9. ‘Whistle Into The Wind’
10. ‘Antifreeze’
11. ‘East of Eden’
12. ‘Bad Underwear’
13. ‘Ah, Sunflower, Weary of Time’
‘High Noon’ is the first new release from the punk icons since they dropped a reissue of ‘No Exit’ last year – the record that marked their return after a 17-year hiatus and contained the chart-topping hit ‘Maria’.The reissue saw the record pressed on vinyl for the first time, arrived with updated artwork from Rob Roth, and included the track ‘Hot Shot’ which was only available in Japan up until that point.
Speaking to NME at the time, Harry and Stein told us about new music on the way and confirmed that they had been working with Marr and Matlock.
“It’s a traditional Blondie composite of sounds and styles of music,” said Harry. “That’s a format we’ve stuck with from the get-go. Over the years we’ve gotten better and better at it, and we’ve also taken a few outside tracks from outside artists. We have a track from Johnny Marr, and we have one from Glen [Matlock] too.”
When asked if this would be their last record after the passing of Burke, Stein replied: “Clem was OK when we did this new record. His situation was very sudden and very fast. It shocked everybody… so It’s hard to say. I don’t know. I’ve been dealing with health bullshit, so I don’t know if I’ll get back to making music… hopefully at some point I’ll get back at it.”
Harry added: “When it comes to another Blondie album, I think it’s probably the same thing that I said about doing shows, maybe it would be ‘Blondie Presents’ or something like that. I haven’t really ironed it out yet…”
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